


Look At The Stars

by prettyspaceprnce



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: First Kiss, First Meetings, Gay, Love Confessions, M/M, Vulcan Bond, Vulcan Culture, Vulcan Kisses, planet vulcan, spirk, thyla
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 20:12:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 22,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15517707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettyspaceprnce/pseuds/prettyspaceprnce
Summary: James Kirk is sent to Vulcan to live with a host family to 'broaden his horizons'. Vulcan is hot, deserted, and everyone is exactly the same. Well, almost everyone.





	1. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirk's arrival to Vulcan brought more than enough action to push most away, but he was no quitter... and the shuttle to pick him up wasn't scheduled for another couple months.

Teen Kirk's POV:  
"Humor, what a human response to failure." Came the condescending comment from a Vulcan kid.

"I'm not laughing because I did bad, I'm laughing because you guys are acting like I should be a pro when it's my first time doing this." I laughed.

"We expected inadequacy yes, but not to this degree." The Vulcan quipped.

"I don't even know the rules, or the name of the game we were playing." I smiled as the embarrassed kid's face turned green.

"What are you failing at today, halfbreed." This insult wasn't targeted at him but it definitely caught his attention.

"I have failed at nothing, on the contrary I have exceeded expectations and surpassed your accomplishments, Stonn." The boy who had previously been insulted said. The boy he called 'Stonn' looked taken aback by the easy dodge of the insult and the quick return. "And my name is Spock, not halfbreed. Maybe if you took more time studying and looking at the stats charts instead of continuing to fail at attempting to make me show emotion you'd know that." 'Spock' just scorched the guy and acted like it was all in the daily routine. I only saw the back of his head so I had no idea what this beast looked like.

"At least I'm a purebred." Stonn mumbled as if that was all he had to say while Spock began to walk away.

"Purebred?" I laughed, "What is this, a dog show?" I raised my eyebrows in amusement.

"I won't be mocked by a human." He said human is if it was a slur.

"But I just mocked you?" I said pretending to be confused.

"We all know your species is inferior," he paused, a crooked smile growing on his face. "Your mother is obvious proof of that." Stonn began to walk towards me. I looked away clenching my fists, he was a lot taller and stronger than me. "Are you going to cry? What a human thing to-" he was cut off by my fist in his face. He stumbled backwards in shock and stared at me in awe.

"Say one more thing about my mom, I dare you." I growled.

"Your mother," he started brushing himself off. "Is an insignificant," he had his hand on my throat. "Inferior," he lifted me up by my neck as I kicked and struggled to pry his hands open. "Unintelligent," he shoved my back to a wall. "disgrace to the planet Vulcan." He tore me away from the wall and slammed me into it again, making me cry out in pain as I still gasped for breath. "Also known as a human." He said dropping me to the floor. I fell to my hands and knees and choked on the air with tears stinging my eyes.

"Humans are so weak." He laughed to the boy standing next to him as they walked away. No one had tried to stop him and everyone stared at me like I got what I deserved. Guess they were right. Human kids don't belong in Vulcan schools. I stood up, what a wonderful first day. I told my mom I didn't want to be a part of the stupid travel program. You'll learn so much about other cultures! She had said. It'll be so much fun! She was wrong. Maybe it won't be too bad. I get to meet my host family tonight, maybe they aren't anti-human scum who want to kill me.

Because there are so many who do, I can't let this guy go yet, even if I get demolished I gotta put up a fight. I ran up behind him and he turned around just on time for me to see the shock on his face as I tackled him to the ground. I punched him in the face about 10 times before I got pulled off of him. Hope he remembers that split lip next time he wants to talk shit.

I started heading towards my 'host home' after that. All of the houses look the same. I saw a kid walking down the same street as me.

"Hey!" I yelled, jogging to catch up with him. "Could you give me directions to this address?" I asked showing them the address.

"Yes." He said with a straight face, but he didn't give me directions.

"What are the directions?" I asked confused.

"Follow me." He took me down a side street and didn't stop once to talk to me or check if I was still following. He took a couple more turns and then he abruptly stopped causing me to run into him.

"Sorry!" I shouted, I really didn't want to get into another fight.

"It is alright." He replied emotionlessly. "That is the home you are looking for." He pointed to a house across the street. It looked like a nice place.

"Thank... you." He was gone before I had time to thank him. I don't want to be too late meeting my host family, I want to give them a good impression. I crossed the street and took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

A woman opened the door. A human woman, a smile grew on her face when she saw me. "Hello there." She said sweetly. "You must be James." She opened the door further. "My name is Amanda, I'm going to be your host mother for the next few months!" She seemed so excited to see me even though that was the first time we had met. "Come in come in." She ushered me inside. "Are you hungry? You must be starving! No no you must be exhausted! How are you feeling? Are you nervous? Oh no! Now I'm just talking too much! It's probably intimidating!" She stopped and took a deep breath. "We just prepared dinner, would you like me to fix you a plate?" She asked with a soft smile.

"Yes, please." Came my quiet response. She lead me into the kitchen where I saw two people. One who I was assuming was her husband and the other was most likely their son, his back was facing me so I was praying to the lord it wasn't one of those his who saw me get beat up. That would be embarrassing. She cleared her throat and both of them turned around. "I'm sure you two could manage to pry yourselves from whatever fascinating conversation you were in for a few moments to greet our guest for the next few months." She said motioning towards me.

"Of course." Came their immediate replies. Woah I recognize one of those voices.

"I am Spock." Oh shit that's the guy that straight up roasted Stonn.

"And I am Sarek." Sarek added.

"My name is James, but my friends like to call me Jim. It's nice to meet you, all three of you!" I said happily. Neither Spock or Sarek replied to that, making me a bit uncomfortable.

"It's nice to meet you too, James." Amanda replied. If this is how it's gonna be I better get used to the silent treatment. I heard something beep and then Amanda was telling everyone to sit down at the table. She set a plate down in front of each of us and I was the only one who said thank you. "It's plomeek soup." She answered the question before I could ask. "It's one of Spock's favorites." She added with a smile in his direction.

"It is illogical to have a favorite I simply acknowledged is an adequate source of nourishment." Spock replied almost immediately.

"Well alright then Mr. GrumpyPants." Amanda said turning away from him.

"An item of clothing-"

"Don't pretend you don't know what I meant." She hushed him. "How do you like it, James?" She asked and everyone turned to me.

"It's different than most of the things I've had back home." She seemed to frown a bit at this. "But it's a good different, I like it." I smiled. It was true I did like it and it was definitely different from the food I'd eat back home. Just then the doorbell rang. I thought there was only one student per host family. When I saw Amanda looking as confused as me I got even more confused.

"Are you expecting anyone?" She asked no one in particular as she went to get the door.

"Doctor McCoy, I presume." Sarek replied from his seat. 'More like Doctor Mc-bitchface' I thought to myself with a smile. Everyone stopped and turned to me.

"Oh fuck did I say that out loud? Shit! I mean crap. Shoot sorry." I then looked down and covered my face so they couldn't see how red I was getting. I heard Amanda let out a small laugh before opening the door.

"Doctor Leonard McCoy?" She asked in that same cheery voice she greeted me with.

"At your service." I could hear the smile in his voice, what an asshole.

"We were just eating dinner, would you like something?" She asked as polite as ever.

"No, I already ate; but thank you for offering." He said walking in alongside her. His smile immediately fell when he saw me.

"Hiya Bones!" I said with a shit eating grin.

"When I heard someone requested me I have no idea why I thought it would be someone who cares about staying alive." Bones said with an eye roll. "But no I had to be stuck with you." He had only been here for 2 minutes and was already tired of my bullshit.

"I missed you too." I smiled finishing up my soup. "Thank you for dinner." I smiled at Amanda, standing up with my now empty bowl. When I looked back at Spock and Sarek I realized that they had already finished their dinner as well. I gathered up the bowls and spoons and took them over to the sink.

"Oh James, you don't have to wash the dishes, you just go and get settled in." She said swatting her hand in the air.

"You already made us dinner, I couldn't let you wash the dishes." I said turning to her with a smile.

"No you mustn't you need to get yourself set up in your room." She said kindly.

"Are you sure? It would be no trouble." I asked finally.

"Of course of course, Spock would you go show James and Doctor McCoy where they will be staying?" She said with her sweet tone directed towards Spock.

He just nodded and stood up I grabbed my duffle bag and followed him, Bones right behind me. We walked into what I assumed was the guest room and there was only one bed. Spock looked at the two of us and at the bed before talking again. "Excuse me for one moment, I need to speak with my mother." He said leaving to room.

"Are we gonna share?" I asked Bones, as I looked at the bed. Bones shrugged. "No wait, dibs!" I yelled jumping star position onto the bed.

"You can't call dibs, there's only one bed." He contradicted.

"Sucks to suck." I shrugged. He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt.

"Now listen here you little shit.-" he was about to continue but I just saw a hand on his shoulder and then he collapsed onto the bed.

"Are you alright?" It was Spock.

"Yeah I'm fine, you just knocked him out!" I said starting at Bones in shock.

"I was under the impression he was attacking you." Spock stated simply.

"No no we were just play fighting, y'know just kidding around." I said with a crooked smile. "So am I staying in here tonight?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"One of you is to sleep here and the other will sleep in my room, we have an extra mattress." He said standing up straight again.

"Well since Bones is already asleep in here, I might as well go with you." I said with a small smile. I lifted my duffle bag and followed him out of the guest room, and into his room. Even though it was hot as hell on Vulcan, the nights were super cold so I brought out tons of blankets to curl up under.

"I apologize for our lack of proper bedding." He said motioning to the mattress on the floor.

"No problem, floor bed is better than no bed." I smiled plopping down on the mattress. He raised an eyebrow and my smile faltered. I cleared my throat. "Could you show me to your restroom, I'd like to change my clothes." I said holding my bag to my chest as I looked down at the floor. This is awkward as hell.

"Yes, follow me." He then stood up and I followed him down the hall to the bathroom. He just stood beside the door until I got in and closed and looked it behind me, then I heard him walk away. I changed into a t-shirt and a pair of those flannel pj pants. I put on some fuzzy socks because who the hell doesn't love fuzzy socks?! I brushed my teeth and packed everything into my duffle bag before making my way back into the room. He was sitting on his bed in that yoga 'lotus' pose or whatever it's called.

"What are we going to be doing tomorrow?" I asked sitting down on my mattress.

"I am going to the market tomorrow, I have not been informed of your schedule." He replied. Ok Mr. Sassy pants.

"Well, do you think I could go with you? Or just follow you around? See how everything works?" I asked wrapping a blanket around me. He looked down at me and thought about it for a while.

"I suppose, you could accompany me." He said raising an eyebrow.

"Awesome so when do you wanna head out?" I asked moving around on the bed. He looked at me in confused. "I mean go to the market, what time do you want to leave the house to go to the market?" I asked.

"We shall leave the house when the first sun casts a shadow of 240 degrees."

"What." I didn't even pretend to understand what the hell that meant.

"There are 30 degrees between each hour and we would be leaving during the 8th hour of when the first sun has risen." He said as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

"So if 8th hour is a 240 degrees and a circle is 360 degrees then I'm assuming 12:00 is at 360 so wait, 1:00 am would be 390?" It was mostly me mumbling to myself but I guess he heard me.

"Correct." His reply startled me a bit.

"So 8:00 then, I'll get up at 6 so I gave time to shower and get ready." I said laying down on my bed. "I mean I'm gonna wake up at um when the first sun, right? When it casts a shadow of 180?" I turned to him hoping I did my math right.

"Also correct." He replied with a nod of what seemed like approval.

"What time is it?" I asked with a yawn.

"585 according to the first sun." He replied immediately. "19:05 according to your standard military time." He added.

"So it's what 8:30?" I asked trying to do the math in my head.

"Precisely." He said with another nod.

"Well it's getting pretty late," I yawned. "I'm gonna hit the hay." I said curling up under my blankets.

"Excuse me?" He seemed taken aback by the statement.

"I'm going to go to sleep now." I smiled with one last yawn, this time he yawned with me. These next few months sure as hell won't bore me.


	2. Too Hot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirk's second Day on Vulcan is more eventful than the first and as he spends more time with Spock he starts to develop feelings.

Sometime in the night or just the brink of dawn it started getting hot again so I took off my sweatshirt and pants, leaving me in just a t-shirt and a pair of boxers. I woke up to something touching my face. So I rolled over and threw my arm over my face. I felt the poking again so I whined in annoyance and swatted at nothing. I rolled back to my original position and yawned. I rubbed my eyes a bit and opened them to find a pair of eyes inches away. Startled, I screamed and flailed around a bit before rolling off the mattress.

"It was not my intention to startle you." I recognized the monotonous voice in a second.

"Jesus fucking Christ Spock you just scared the living shit out of me. Holy fuck. That was scary as hell."

"My apologies. I meant to inform you the 1st sun has cast a shadow of 180 degrees, you requested this to be your time of awakening." He said flatly.

"Oh," I pushed myself up so I was sitting again. "Uh, thanks." I rubbed my hand down my face and stretched a bit before standing up. "I'm gonna go take a shower, if that's cool?" I asked in a half yawn as I stretched my arms above my head. He didn't reply. "Spock?"

"Come again?" He asked, he must've been drifting off into space or something.

"I was just saying I was gonna take a shower." I said putting my arms back down. He nodded.

"I will be downstairs when you see fit to leave." Spock then left the room without another word. I grabbed a t-shirt, underwear, and some pants from my bag and I took them into the bathroom with me. I took a quick shower, pulled my clothes on, and headed downstairs to meet up with Spock. I was still a bit wet when I got downstairs. I made my way into the kitchen to find Spock talking to his mom.

"You ready to go?" I asked making my presence known.

"Oh no you can't leave yet!" Amanda said putting her hand on his shoulder. "Neither of you have eaten breakfast yet! You can't go out on an empty stomach." She scolded.

"My stomach-" Spock began.

"Please eat something." She spoke quietly as if pleading with him. I stayed in my place at the door. "You too James." She said motioning for me to come to the counter. After we ate breakfast Spock and I walked out of the house and I followed him to the market.

"Hey Spock," I said jogging a bit to catch up with him. "What are we getting from the market today?" I asked with a curious smile. He didn't reply. We had only been walking for 10 minutes and I was already sweating. "Spock," I breathed out weakly. "I'm getting, ki-inda di zzy." I said as my vision began to blur. "Spo-" I swiped my hand at his sleeve, it only grazed the fabric as I fell backwards into unconsciousness. I woke up shirtless in a pair of boxers lying on Spock's bed.

"What were you thinking?! Going out there without protection." I could recognize Bone's voice anywhere. "Not even sunscreen?! Were you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"Wha?" I tried to sit up but Bones pushed me back down.

"Oh no your staying right here, you wouldn't make it as much as five steps without falling again." He pinched bridge of his nose. "Next time you wanna go outside you need to tell me so I can give you a hypo or at least some goddamn sunscreen." He was so annoyed. He hypoed me in the arm. "This'll make it easier for you to not sweat to death." He said with an eye roll.

"Did Spock go to the market without me?" I asked looking around the room.

"What? You have more important things to worry about." McCoy seemed very annoyed.

"We were supposed to go to the market together." I said rolling over.

"Well you seem fine, maybe you can hang out with him tomorrow." Bones patted me on the back before standing up and leaving.

I curled up in a ball, whatever McCoy gave me was making me cold. I pulled up the blankets and shivered, nuzzling into the pillow.

I heard footsteps and the door creaked open. I immediately sat up, a bit embarrassed.

"My apologies, I had no intention of awakening you." Spock said apologetically.

"Na s'fine." I said sitting up, stretching my arms above my head. "Oh," I pulled my arms back down and pulled the blankets up to cover myself a bit more. "I'm sorry, I should get dressed." I said going to reach for my clothes.

"I disagree."

"W-what?" I blushed and turned to face him again.

"It would be illogical to redress considering your previous lapse of consciousness due to the heat." He stated without hesitation.

"Oh, ok." I stayed on his bed and didn't make another move.


	3. Hot Damn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spock starts taking care of Jim and he might just start to discover he has some feeling of his own

Spock's POV:  
James sat on my bed tiredly with a small smile on his face. "Stay here." I said softly. "I will be back shortly." I said as I stepped backwards out of the room.

"Ok." I heard the quiet response as I made my way towards the kitchen. I filled a glass with water and dampened a rag. I returned to the room to see he had only moved the rest his back against the corner wall in which my bed sat.

I walked over to him and sat on the edge of the bed holding the water out to him. "Drink." I sounded idiotic and a bit forceful but it was all I could get out. I was still in awe of his pure beauty.

"Thanks." He drank the whole thing and didn't stop to breath once. How thirsty was he, why didn't he tell me that he was thirsty?

I lifted the damp cloth and pressed it gently to his forehead, I immediately felt his body relax. He closed his eyes and his lips parted ever so slightly. His face softened as I gently dabbed around his face. He opened his eyes again and our eyes locked. My breath caught in my throat. It is illogical to prefer one color over another yet I prefer the color of his eyes over any eyes I've seen in my life.

I saw him blush and I immediately pulled my hand away fearing he had heard my thoughts. "My apologies." I said quietly as I looked away from him in embarrassment.

"Thank you, for the water and the cloth." He said as if trying to think of anything to say. "You didn't have to do that." His face turned red again. Was he getting too hot?

"Hospitality is a custom, there is no need to thank me." I said simply.

"Doesn't make me any less grateful." He said with that bright shimmering smile. "What did you get from the market?" He asked after clearing his throat.

"I did not go." I spoke quietly.

"Really?" He seemed pleased to hear this because he was smiling again.

"Vulcans do not lie." I said simply.

"So I can ask you anything, and you have to tell me the truth?" He asked sitting up with a smile I can only describe as mischievous.

"Or I could choose not to answer the question." I added with a nod.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" He asked batting his eyelashes and folding his hands together by his cheek.

"Beauty is a social construct." I replied immediately.

"Damn Spock, if you think I'm that ugly you could have just said so." He laughed.

"I did not intend to convey I feel you are unattractive. According to most conventional human standards you are very attractive." I said after some thought. He stopped laughing when I said this and he cleared his throat.

"Thanks." He mumbled.

"You are welcome, though all I have done is made an observation." I said in acknowledgment. He stared at me with an almost dazed look in his eyes before blinking multiple times, looking away.

"I-I'm feeling a lot better." He smiled. "We can still go out to the market, if there's time." He said, his voice laced with excitement.

"We may go to the market tomorrow, for now you should rest." I said pressing my hand gently against his forehead, good he's back to normal. I stood up to walk out of the room.

"Wait." He grabbed my wrist and stopped me. "Could you stay?" He asked looking up at me. I started down at him and said nothing, my mind was completely blank. "I'd really appreciate the company." He added letting go of my wrist.

"I suppose I could stay." I said after some thought.

"Thanks." He said in almost a whisper. I opened my mouth to speak but he interrupted me before I could even start. "And don't give me some reason why I shouldn't be thanking you, because it's nice of you to be sitting here with me and not everyone would do that." He said with a soft smile. "Do you think we could go out tonight? Like you could show me around and tell me what's what." He asked

"Alright, only if you are well enough." I said looking him up and down for a moment.

"I'm feeling better already." He said with a bright smile.

"Then we will look around tonight." I said with a short nod. "Rest for now." I said running my fingers through his hair.

"Okay." He said with a yawn. "Make sure to wake me up so I don't over sleep and miss the adventure." He laughed with a small smile.

"Alright." I stayed by his side and he fell asleep. After I was sure he was asleep I got up and walked into the kitchen to talk with my mother.

"How's he doing, honey?" She asked.

"He is well, his temperature has dropped back down to the average for a human and he is now asleep in my bed." I said sitting down in front of the counter.

"That's nice, well I'm of to the market. Would you like to join me?" She asked grabbing a wooden weaved basket to hold everything she buy at the market.

"No mother, I will stay here ,but thank you for the offer." I said as she stood by the door.

"Alrighty, then I will see you when I get back home. Love you, sweetie." She she said 'blowing me a kiss'.

"I love you too." I replied as she walked out the door.


	4. Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim reveals the art of the french kiss

Spock's POV:  
After my mother's departure I considered meditation but all attempts had proven futile. My mind was racing, concentration was luxury that in the time being I could not afford. I walked to our backyard and was met by I'chaya, he had protected me as a young child and had become a third guardian to me since then.

"Hello, I'chaya." I smiled petting him. His thick brown fur never failed to calm me. He rolled over on his back for me to rub the fur on his stomach. "Mother was right, you're no hunter." I let out a small laugh as he rolled around. "You're just a big teddy bear." I then started rubbing his head. "You wouldn't kill a fly." At that he pounced and lay on top of me attempt to 'play fight'.

"What in God's name is that?!" I heard a yell. I turned to see our other guest Dr. McCoy. I'chaya jumped to my defense at the sound of the yelling.

"This is I'chaya." I said ruffling the fur on his head. "He's my pet."

"That beast is your pet?" He seemed horrified.

"Beast?" I looked over at I'chaya. I lifted him up and cradled him like you would a baby. "I don't believe so."

"I need more coffee." Was the tired reply. I smiled as he walked back inside the house.

I'chaya and I played together for a bit before he lay down. Both of us were extremely tired. I pet his before walking back inside. I spent the rest of my day in deep meditation which I'chaya's calming pressing gave me the ability to ensue.

I awoke as my mother returned. "Oh we're you trying to meditate? I'm sorry sweetie I just wanted to know what you wanted for dinner." She asked her voiced laced with apologetic sincerity.

"I will enjoy whatever nourishment you see fit to cook." I said with a nod.

Found that it was around the time I had told James I would show him the city.

I walked into my bedroom to find James still asleep in my bed. He was laying on his back, one leg straight down and one hanging off the bed. He had one arm under the pillow and the other over his face, covering his eyes. The blanket was discarded by his feet.

"James." I whispered shaking him gently. "James." I said shaking him less gently. He made a grumbling sound and flung his arm towards. "James you need to get up." I said moving to grab both of his shoulders. I shook him and there was only an annoyed moan in response. I moved so my knees were on either side of him then I grabbed his shoulders and gave him a definitely not gentle shake.

It was like hitting am on button. His eyes flew open and his hand shot up to my neck as he flipped me over. He was now on his knees above me with his fist cocked back ready to punch me. I lay under him looking up, unfazed.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" He took his one hand off my throat and clumsily attempted to stand up. Which didn't work because one of his legs was wrapped around mine, so he began to fall forward. He caught himself before he could crash into me. One hand slamming down right next my head the other... not where a hand is supposed to be. "I'm so sorry! I-oh my gosh." He once again clumsily tried to stand this time falling of the bed rather than onto me.

I felt my face heat up in what must have been embarrassment. He just touched- he just grabbed my- oh my.

"Spock I-"

"It's alright."

"I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine."

We both stood up and looked at each other awkwardly.

"I was going to- If you would still like me to show you around the city-" I started.

"Yeah, I'd love to." He said with a smile. "How should I dress?" He asked opening up his bag.

"Warm clothes, it may have seemed hot earlier today, but the nights are cold." I said grabbing my jacket. "I'll be waiting for you by the front door." I said quietly before exiting the bedroom.

As I told him I would I waited by the front door. Approximately 5.36 minutes later he made his way to the front door next to me.

"Boys!" My mother called out from the kitchen. "Before you go, I've made dinner." She said waving us in. We sat down and ate quietly and pretty quickly I really wanted him to show me around.

"Alright, I'm ready to see shikahr city." He seemed excited. I nodded and opened the door for him. "Why thank you." He said with a smile. "The evening has only just begun and you're already being such a gentlemen." He said putting his hand on his own chest.

"Where would you like to begin?" I asked wondering where I should start.

"Maybe we should go and check out the places you would usually go out to eat." He suggested.

"That is an adequate suggestion, you will know more about Vulcan culture." I agreed.

"I'm assuming you guys don't have hotdog stands out here." He said turning to me with a smile.

"I do not see it morally acceptable to consume the scorched body of a pet." I was extremely offended at the notion we would be so brutal.

"No! Oh god no not like a dog! It's a wiener- no not like! It's like a sausage wrapped in bread." He paused to laugh. "I never thought I'd have to explain a hot dog to someone before."

"What does your Terran sausage consist of?" I asked. He smiled and laughed a bit.

"No one really knows what hotdogs are made of." He said, his smile slowly fading. "Come to think of it I never even asked. It's like a bunch if mystery meat in the form of a sausage." He shivered after that.

"It is unlikely we will find a restaurant serving 'hot dogs' but I am convinced we will find something to your liking." I said as we continued to walk.

"What about that place?" He asked pointing to the one place I had never been. The only bar in shikahr.

"You must be above 19 years of age to be granted entrance." I said without hesitation.

"I'm guessing they don't serve much food in there either, huh?" He turned to me with a laugh. "Where do you usually go out to eat?" He asked jogging a bit to catch up with my moderately fast paced walking. He then took my hand and just held it.

"Excuse me Cadet Kirk I have only know you for a day." I said pulling my hand away.

"Wha-Oh! The hand thing! I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to! Humans don't! I wasn't trying to make a move I swear! It's a human thing, holding hands isn't really an intimate thing where I come from. It's like-um I mean you guys holding hands is like people kissing but with their mouths. What I'm trying to say is I didn't mean to harass you or anything." He seemed extremely nervous.

"Kissing with your mouths? That sounds extremely unsanitary." I said raising an eyebrow.

"It might sound that way but it seems more special. You use your hands for everything, you barely ever use your lips." He said trying to explain it. "And I mean it's not that unsanitary, unless you're frenching, or you've got meningitis or something." He laughed.

"Frenching?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I can explain that later. Oh and humans touch a lot so just make sure to tell me if its too much." He said scratching the back of his neck.

"I will be sure to inform you of any discomfort." I said continuing to walk. He then hooked his arm in mine and started walking at the same pace as me.

"That place looks like a salad bar." He said pointing to a restaurant ahead of us.

"That's quite an adequate description. Most restaurants only serve vegetarian food." I said looking over at him.

"Guess I'll be a vegetarian for a few months then." He said with a shrug. "Spock is that a club?!" He said pointing to a building across the street I could only describe as shady.

"I don't believe so, I believe that used to be a supermarket.

"Did it sell apple juice?" He asked, to which I nodded. He then began dancing. "Boi we gon get crunk!"

"We are going to what?" I stepped back in confusion.

"Never mind." He said with a little laugh. "So what's it like, being half human and having to pretend you don't have feelings like everyone else?" He asked, his smile fading.

"As I am half Vulcan as well I do not feel to the same extent as you." I said plainly.

"But still-"

"I believe it will be getting dark soon, we should start making our way home." I said, beginning to turn around.

"Wait!" He grabbed my hand and then let it go immediately after. "Sorry! Wait can you explain what the Vulcan kissing thing is? Am I not aloud to touch your hand at all?" He asked looking up at me.

"Well, it is a very intimate topic and it is done between bonded Vulcans." I started.

"I am so sorry! I thought it was just a kiss and I did it accidentally and I thought I would be like its just a kiss no biggy! I didn't mean to fuck with your bond stuff." He said motioning his hand to my entire body.

"It is quite alright. Will you explain to me the significance of a human kiss?" I asked. If it has nothing to do with binding to the mate you choose then why does it matter.

"Humans, well we don't really have bond mates. We figure out who our 'true love' or 'soul mate' is after years of searching for the right person. Some people found there's when they were a kid and some people never find them so kisses happen a lot. You kiss the people that you have romantic feelings for. Unless you're aro, then you kiss the people you have more uh- sexual feelings for." He started blushing. "I guess things are just different on Earth. Oh yeah and frenching, it's a French kiss. It didn't originate in France, or maybe it did I don't know it's when you kiss someone but like with your whole mouth- like it's not just your lips. You would use your tongue. Some people aren't into that kind of thing and I guess it's more intimate than a regular kiss, I don't know I'm not a doctor anything." He put his hands in his pockets and kept walking.

"So humans waste their whole lives trying to find a soul mate they may or may not have?" I asked sadly.

"It's not as depressing as it sounds, I like to believe that everybody has a soulmate. I mean out of all the different people, planets, and galaxies it's hard to believe there's no one out there for me- I mean for whoever is looking for a soulmate." He said with a small smile.

"Indeed." I nodded.

"You were right, it us getting dark. He said walking a bit quicker. "We should definitely head back to the house."

"I will show you more of the city when the sun rises tomorrow." I said keeping up with his pace.

"I'd like that Spock, thanks." He said smiling softly.


	5. A Kiss?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirk is an absolutely shameless flirt and he meets the most adorable puppy in the world!

"Morning, sunshine." The familiar grumpy voice woke me up.

"Hey Bones." I yawned stretching a bit, I looked around the room from my bundled little ball of blankets. "Where's-"

"Your boyfriend? He's out running errands." Bones said pulling out a hypo.

"We literal just met, what? 2-3 days ago? Why do you assume I'm trying to get with every single person I talk to!" I said throwing my arms up in exasperation.

"You kissed him didn't you!"

"Wha-what, why would you say- what would make you think something like that?!"

"Oh my god, you did! You fuckin did, I was joking but holy shit!" His hand was in his hair and his mouth was opened wide in disbelief.

"It was an accident, okay? I forgot about the whole hand thing, tried to hold his hand and I fucked shit up." I said dropping my head in my hands.

"Don't get too down over it, he seemed pretty spunky this morning." Bones said with a smile.

I peeked through my fingers. "What do you mean?"

"He was practically walking on air! He said good morning to his dad, he kissed his mom on cheek, he was even play fighting with that thing in the backyard." He said waving his hand absentmindedly. "What did you guys do last night?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"He showed me around last night, but it got dark so I didn't see much." I said moving to my duffel bag. I pulled my vintage™ NASA t-shirt out and threw it on along with some shorts.

"Look at you, lookin all presentable and such." He said looking me up and down

"Why thank you, Bones." I said swatting my hand at him.

"You must really like him." He said in what sounded like the beginning of a laugh.

"Y'know Bones, I don't have to like someone to look presentable. I could just be looking presentable for me!" I said in mock offense. I walked in the bathroom and brushed my teeth before heading into the kitchen.

"Good morning." I smiled as I walked into the room.

"Good morning to you too, James." Amanda replied. "Would you like an apple?" She asked holding one out to me.

"How'd you get apples here?" I asked in confusion taking the apple in my hand.

"We have a climate controlled garden in the back so I can grow certain fruits and vegetables I used to have on Earth." She said with a smile.

"Wow, and thank you." I said biting into the apple. It was good, tastes like home. "Would you mind if I went out to take a look at your garden?" I asked continuing to eat the apple.

"Of coarse I don't mind, just through those doors back there." She said pointing over to some glass doors. I walked outside to be met with a larger furry animal. It's lips curled back to reveal its teeth. It reminded me of a bear mixed with a lion also mixed with a puppy.

I began to walk towards it, slowly. I felt an arm move across my chest then I saw Spock.

"I'chaya sit!" He commanded, the animal obeyed. "James, this is I'Chaya he will do you no harm. He may have the appearance of a beast, yet he is a very gentle creature." By the time he finished his sentence I was already on my knees rubbing I'Chaya's belly.

"You don't have to tell me twice." I laughed continuing to pet I'Chaya. "Hi buddy, hi baby!" I said scratching underneath his chin. "Are you a good boy? Are you a good boy?" I scratched between his ears. "Yes you are, such a good boy!" I smiled as he licked my face. "What kind of dog is he?" I laughed rubbing across his back.

"Excuse me?"

"Pfffft I'm sorry I'm just so used to asking that when petting adorable furry animals. What is he? He looks like a bear mixed with a lion and a dog, I'm also getting a tiger vibe from him." I laughed petting his puppy looking face.

"I'Chaya is a sehlat." He said kneeling down next to me to also pet I'Chaya.

"Awww, he's a cutie is what he is." I said looking into his big ol puppy dog eyes.

"I am glad you feel fondly of I'Chaya, and he to you. I'Chaya is usually wary toward strangers." He said scratching behind I'Chaya's ear.

"Well I'm glad he likes me too." I smiled.

"Would you accompany I'Chaya and I on our walk this afternoon?" He asked looking over at me and almost as if on queue, I'Chaya did the same.

"Of coarse." I said turning to look at Spock directly. "I would love to join you." I said batting my eyelashes. "But the real question is," I paused for effect. "Would I'Chaya feel that I'm intruding?" I asked petting the large animal's face.

"I do not believe I'Chaya would be in any way opposed to your presence." He spoke quickly as if trying to make up my mind before I had myself. It was cute to see him so set on spending time with me.

"I don't know." I smiled tapping my chin. "I'Chaya what do you think? You want me to come?" I asked him with a smile. He immediately started wagging his lion like tail in excitement. "I think that's a yes." I laughed petting his cute little bear ears.

I looked up into Spock's eyes and my breath caught in my throat. His mouth was pressed into that thin concealing line but his eyes oh his eyes, why they were smiling on their very own, smeyezing if you will. I couldn't help smiling right along with him. So maybe Bones was right, only a little bit.

"Spock." I said not breaking my entrances gaze for his eyes.

"Jim." I could hear the uncertainty in his voice

"Did you know that you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen?" I asked staring at the breathtaking masterpiece of a being in front of me.

"I find that highly unlikely considering it is statistically proven that the majority of humans prefer lighter eyes such as your own." He spoke immediately breaking the eye contact.

"Well, I guess I'm just not a part of the majority then." I replied smoothly. "You do have beautiful eyes, Spock." I complimented once again.

"Thank you." Was his quiet reply.

"You don't have to thank me for telling the truth." I said sitting so I was leaning on my arm for support. He stood up as did I'Chaya. He then jumped into I'Chaya's back with such practice and grace I couldn't help but stare. I then stood up as he offered a hand to me. Our eyes looked.

His hand was still reaching for me, I took it.


	6. Hold Onto Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim is holding onto Spock like his life depends on it... and it might. (ps. hal-tor means go)

Kirk's POV:  
"It's so beautiful here." I whispered clinging onto Spock as I'Chaya ran. I practically squeezed him when I'Chaya leapt over a small stream that had bridge not 8 feet away. I hadn't realized I had buried my face into his back until I found myself peeking over his shoulder. "Wait a minute, Spock?"

"Yes, Jim?"

"If Vulcan is a desert planet then how come there are streams and rivers?" I asked resting my head on his shoulder.

"Deserts are not completely barren and free of water." He replied simply. "Egypt has the Nile." He added. I nodded in understanding.

"Spock, where are we going?" I asked not moving my head from where it rested on his shoulder.

"Wherever I'Chaya chooses to take us." He seemed so calm, just letting I'Chaya go wherever he saw fit.

"Do you think you could teach me how to speak Vulcan?" I asked quietly. After getting no response I felt a little less confident in my question. "I've just never been able to learn it and now that I'm here and I mean- uh since I'm gonna be here for a while I just thought..." I trailed off unsure of whether or not I should continue.

I'Chaya then abruptly stopped making me cling to Spock harder. I let go when I realized he wasn't going to start moving again. "Spock jumped down and helped his arms out for me to jump. I swung my leg over so both were on the side facing Spock I slid down and hopped into his arms where he caught me and placed me on the ground gently.

"Vulcan is a very difficult language to learn." He said not removing his hands from my waist where he held me to make sure I didn't fall. "It will take time and a lot of determination."

"You know we've got time," I started as I stared directly up in his eyes. "and don't worry about the determination, if I've got anything I can count on that's it." I said not breaking eye contact.

"When do you propose I teach you?" He said staring at me intensely. I'm not sure if he knows how to not be intense.

"Now." It was short and simple, yet it seemed to take him by surprise.

"What would you like to learn?" He said taking a step closer as he regained his composure.

"Everything." I hadn't realized I was moving closer to him until I was tilting my head up to look into his eyes. "Teach me, everything." We stood there for a moment just looking into each other's eyes until I'Chaya began to growl. We both immediately turned to see what he was growling at. We came to see somethings that looked like a giant hairless cat but green with a strange golden pattern on its back.

"Spock, What's that?" My voice was laced with worry. He immediately lifted me and threw me up onto I'Chaya's back. The creature made a growling sound similar to a jaguar before barring it's teeth. He jumped up with me before shouting "HAL-TOR!" to I'Chaya which I'm assuming meant something like run.

We were speeding through the sand and rocks with no discernible destination. I clung to Spock as if my life depended on it, I believed it did. After 5 minutes of I'Chaya running we hit a dead end. We then heard the familiar jaguar like growl getting closer. "Spock?" The question was whispered, so small yet it held a question with the weight of an entire galaxy, 'how do we get out of here alive?'

"I'Chaya, abru." He had whispered the command as if it were a secret. That was one of the few words I knew, abru meant up. Up? Up where, there was nowhere to go. I'Chaya immediately began to run full speed at the almost completely vertical wall. "Hold on tight." Spock said only turning his head toward me for a second. I squeezed my arms around Spock's waist as tightly as I could, closing my eyes as we got closer to the wall. I felt Spock lean forward so his chest was pressed against I'Chaya's back, I leaned with him. For a split second the sound of the large paws ripping through the ground ceased, they were immediately replaced with a different sound. The sound of digging and scraping, The sound of aimless clawing.

I'Chaya was climbing up the wall and if he let go we were all going down.

I felt my arms tighten even further around Spock as I squeezed my eyes shut. I held my breath as I felt us going higher. We kept going and going, it felt like the only place we could go was up and all we could do was go. Then we stopped. I peeked from where I had subconsciously buried my face in Spock's shoulder, safe. I let out a sigh of relief but made no move to release Spock, only loosening my grip a bit so not to strangle him.

I'Chaya then walked only a few meters to move us away from the cliff. He once again stopped and Spock once again hopped off his back letting me jump into his so he could once again lower me to the ground. Once again I didn't move away from him, unlike before this time I put my arms around his neck opposed to where his lay on my waist.

"You saved my life." I closed my eyes and pulled him close. I hugged him and held him tight. "Thank you." I whispered into his shoulder as I held him tightly in my arms. "I don't know how to thank you." I pulled away, only enough to look at him in the eyes. "How do you say hero in Vulcan?" I asked staring up at him. "Because that's what you are, Spock. You're my hero." I was looking up into his big beautiful brown eyes that reminded me of Bambi when I suddenly realized everything was getting closer. I don't know if he was leaning in, I was leaning in or both but, before I knew it our noses were touching and my eyes were fluttering closed.


	7. Kiss Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions can be frustrating, especially for Vulcans, but maybe seeing where they lead you is the most logical course of action.

I don't know if he was leaning in, I was leaning in or both but, before I knew it our noses were touching and my eyes were fluttering closed. My breath caught in my throat and I stood there, frozen. The hands on my waist pulled me so we were chest to chest, I could feel his hot breath feathering across my lips.

I opened my mouth to quietly whisper "kiss me" but once I said the word kiss, his lips were already on mine. I moved one hand to tangle my fingers into his hair as he pulled my other hand to press against his. I broke the kiss and pulled my hand away as I stared at the ground.

"Wait." I took a breath and stared up to search his face for any indication of whether or not to continue, or what any of this would mean tomorrow. "Do you- do you want this?" I stared up at him with hopeful eyes. I stood there watching him, waiting for him, anticipating his answer for a full 5 seconds. I just closed my eyes and nodded as I took a step back. He opened his mouth but then closed it without a word.

I began to silently walk towards I'Chaya signaling that I wanted to leave. Spock grabbed my wrist to stop me.

"Spock, let go." When he didn't comply I turned to look him in the eyes. "If you don't want me then let me go!" It was a shout so abrupt I startled myself.

"I do want you I don't want to want you but I do. I am not meant to want. Vulcans do not want things." He seemed so frustrated.

"I can't just wait for you to make up your mind on if you want to want or just want to stop wanting! None of that made any sense and that's why I need an answer on where's or not you want this." I wasn't even sure half the things I was saying made sense but I said them anyways.

"I-" he cut himself off by closing his mouth. "You make me feel James and it confuses me. I have lived my whole life successfully teaching myself not to feel and you, you have overridden all of that in just 3 days." He avoided my eyes.

"But even if you can't want, don't you want to feel?" I asked looking up at him. "Wh-why would you kiss me? Why did you let me kiss you back? Why didn't you stop me?" I kept walking backwards. My head was spinning a mile a minute and I couldn't catch up.

"James." He took a step towards me but I only walked further backwards. "Let me explain." He looked at me with his emotionless face and I said nothing.

"Don't you want to know what it's like? To love, or even just like someone?" I had my hand balled up in his shirt.

"I have chosen the Vulcan way, I have purged all emotions, I cannot-"

"Then let go of me." I interrupted feeling my eyes stinging. He did. I turned away from him and started walking away.

"Where are you going?" His voice was quiet and soft.

"I just need time to breath." I replied closing my eyes. "I need to think."

"You don't even know where we are, you'll get lost." He sighed. I turned to him to yell something back, but all I could do was let out a gasp of horror as I felt the absence of ground underneath my foot.

"Spock!" Was all I yelled before I fell back head first. I closed my eyes.  
*YOINK*  
His hands were wrapped around my ankle. I kept looking down at the darkness, where that beast that had chased us was still prowling. I made eye contact with it. He pulled me up in an instant, wrapping his arms around me, squeezing me tightly as if still trying to prevent me from falling. I let out a sigh of relief as I pulled him close and hugged him tight.

"You saved me twice." I smiled holding him tighter. "I think you're stuck with me." I sighed. "You don't want to feel and all I do is feel and trust me I'm really really good at driving people crazy." I smiled. "You can't get rid of me now, I've already metaphorically latched onto you. There's no escape!" I cackled.

"I would not wish to 'escape'." It was so quiet and simple yet it was so, so big; In a soft warm way.

I locked my arms tighter around him. "If you ever decide- if you ever figure out if you want to feel, I guess what I'm saying is I'll be here. Unless it takes like 2 months because I mean, that's pretty long and I feel like if it takes you that long to realize you even have 1/2 a feeling for me, whatever it is it won't be love." I said it all so quickly I wasn't sure if he understood any of it. "I've had enough meaningless sex for the both of us but I don't want that anymore, I want to be with you." I closed my eyes and rested my head against his shoulder. He pulled back from the hug so he could look me in the eyes, still holding me.

"I am unsure of whether or not this is a feeling but even though the temperature is decreasing I feel warm." He looked down straight into my eyes. I felt my cheeks flush.

"I think that means you're happy, that this makes you feel good." I smiled. "Can I try something?" I asked looking up at him again. He nodded. I kissed him cheek quick and soft. His cheeks turned green, is that what it looks like when Vulcans blush?

I opened my mouth to speak but his lips were on mine before I could get a word out.

"I'm assuming you were going to ask me how that made me feel. It made me feel like I wanted to kiss you." We were noses to nose when he said that and I could taste his breath, steady and warm. "I want to hold you," he closed his eyes as he pressed our foreheads together. "touch you," he continued, running his fingers through my hair. "talk to you," he wasn't smiling but expression on his face was a pleased one. "teach you all about my culture and native tongue," his breathing became less controlled. "To quote your earlier statement I too 'want to be with you'." He finished. We pulled apart a bit more so I could see more than just his eyes.

"Are we still on the fence about you and feeling?" I asked staring up into his eyes.

"I will remain on the logical path of the Vulcan way, but I will not ignore what you make me feel." He said simply.

"What does that mean for us?" I asked calmly.

"The most logical solution would be to explore the depths of our feeling for one another."


	8. Reldai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little lesson in Vulcan

"We've played this twice already and you're still beating me." Jim huffed almost whining. "I'm just rusty, I haven't played in a while." He said with a long drawn out sigh.

"Oh come on you play chess all the time, you were playing the day before we got here." McCoy scoffed in disbelief.

"I'm just rusty." He emphasized gritting his teeth.

"Whatever you say, Reldai." It slipped out of my mouth before I even knew I was speaking. McCoy gasped and covered his mouth. I burned into him with my eyes with the silent words of 'say nothing'.

"Excuse me?" Kirk's head snapped up within a second. I pretended not to hear him. "Bones, what did he say?" He asked turning to look at the doctor, who just shrugged ambiguously in response. "What did he say?!" James shouted.

"Prnsbss." The doctor mumbled looking away from me. "He called you princess." He said covering his mouth to unsuccessfully stifle a laugh.

"Princess? Princess?!" He shouted in disbelief. "Well this princess is about to beat your ass at chess." He said leaning forward. "Reset, let's go." He challenged moving all the pieces to their original positions. I was confused by his unrealistic expectation to win seeing as he had no tactical strategy. His moves were completely illogical, almost random, and seemed to have no correlation with one another.

"Check mate." I looked down at the board in disbelief.

"Indeed." I replied after recognizing what had just happened.

"Let's make a bet." He grinned mischievously. "If I can beat you two more times then you have to," He paused for a moment trying to think of the proper punishment. He gasped. "You have to wear this!" He shouted running into the bedroom.

There were sounds of rummaging and he was back within seconds; he had a shirt in his hand. On the front it had a picture of him giving a thumbs up and underneath it said, "James T. Kirk is the smartest, prettiest, most amazingly talented person I know" and on the back were the words, "I shouldn't have made the bet".

I raised my eyebrow.

"I make a lot of bets." Jim smiled, the doctor laughed. "And I win almost all of em." He added proudly.

"I accept your challenge." I grinned in response.

"So, Mr. Spock, in the extremely unlikely scenario that you somehow manage to win, what would you like your prize to be?" He asked grinning slyly.

"You gotta make him destroy that God awful T-shirt!" McCoy piped in, glaring at Jim.

"You must destroy the shirt." I agreed with a curt nod. He immediately gasped in horror.

"Oh it's on now, on like Donkey Kong." His eyes narrowed. "Good thing there's no way you're gonna win." I squinted in confusion at his strange sayings. Then the match had begun. His moves seemed just as irrational and erratic as the match we had played prior, but he seemed to be stealing my pawns. I was completely unaware of his random advances until he had stolen my Queen, winning almost immediately after.

"Woohoo! I win!" He shouted excitedly.

"One of the two." I interjected, demeaning his celebration. He huffed.

"Let's go again!" The second played out just as the first had.

"A bet's a bet." He laughed. "Now you better pop your top, it's t-shirt time." He practically cackled. I pulled off my shirt and held my arm out for him to hand me the other one. He didn't pass me the other until Bones snapped his fingers right next his ear. "Right, sorry." He passed me the shirt, while laughing uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact.

The doctor looked me up and down with an eyebrow raised in amusement before wordlessly turning back to his book. While James let out a whistle in what sounded to be appreciation. "Damn, black is definitely your color." He said leaning on the table. I was unable to find a logical response so I did not respond. "And man," he hummed with a smile. "do I look good on you." He laughed with a wink.

"Is there a set period of time I am required to wear the shirt?" I asked raising an eyebrow at his crude humor.

"Oh yeah! Hold on, put your other shirt back on so you can wear this bad boy all throughout tomorrow." He was smiling. I changed my shirt once again. "Hey Spock, how do you say winner in Vulcan?" He laughed mockingly.

"Jim," McCoy looked up from his book. "Leave the poor kid alone." The doctor sighed. James huffed and rolled his eyes.

"So, Spock." Jim grinned. "What are you doing tomorrow? Obviously other than displaying my beautiful fave across your chest for the word to see." He bit his lip to keep from laughing. He cleared his throat and composed himself a considerable amount. "No, but seriously, what are we doing tomorrow?" He asked leaning on the table to rest his head in his hands.

"I have a few tasks I am obligated to complete." I spoke after a bit of thought.

"Once you finish those do you think you could start teaching me how to speak Vulcan?" His eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement and childlike wonder.

"If my mother and father do not have conflicting requests then I believe I could." I answered simply. He clapped his hands together happily. He then yawned quietly, checking his watch for the time. "Man, it's getting late." He said tiredly. "I think I'm gonna hit the hay." The entire sentence was spoken in one yawn.

"If you are in need of rest do explain to me the purpose of 'hitting the hay' rather than sleeping?" I was perplexed by his strange customs.

"It's a saying, Spock." He laughed tiredly. "It means I'm going to bed." He stretched his arms above his head and continued his walk towards the bedroom.


	9. Lions and Tigers and Bears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today we're going to be getting a lesson in history and zoology.

"Oh my." McCoy smiled.

"What?" Kirk asked suspiciously.

"You? Going to bed at a reasonable hour?" He asked with a laugh.

"Hahaha." He laughed sarcastically in reply. He the curled his hand into a fist except his middle finger. He walked out of the room, while hold his hand up in the air.

"You too buddy, you too." He smiled. After 2 minutes of silence between McCoy and I, I decided to set the chess pieces back to their original places.

"Kirk is correct, it is indeed late." I agreed, clearing my throat. I received no response from the doctor. "I will also be going to sleep." I nodded though I made no move to get up.

"What do you want? A goodnight kiss?" He squinted his eyes at me, I raised an eyebrow. "Just go to bed." He swatted at me dismissively to which I turned my back and walked into my bedroom.

I walked into the room to find James fanning himself shirtless while sitting on the bedroom floor.

"It's hot in here right?" He asked almost breathless. "I'm not just making stuff up?"

"It is uncharacteristically warm for the night, yes." I agreed.

"You don't mind if I sleep like this, do you?" He asked stretching his arms above his head.

"My opinion should not be held to the same standard as your comfort and should have no effect on what you wear to sustain said comfort." I replied almost immediately. He smiled and lay down on his side.

"Alright, then." He spoke quietly as he propped himself up on an elbow. "So," he began his sentence with a smile I could only describe as smug. "How does it feel to lose to me? Of course I've lost bet's before, but never to myself." He looked up at me and flashed his teeth.

"Are you looking for an answer to your question, or are you just being cocky?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. He seemed startled by my question, startled to the point of slipping from his position of resting on his hand and landing on the floor.

"Was that a real question or just a rhetorical one to put me in check." He asked, watching me as I walked to my bed.

"A bit of both." I replied honestly, as I began to change my clothes.

"Is that so?" He asked sounding smug once again.

"It is." I said with a nod. I heard a quiet gasp come from behind me as I took off my shirt causing me to turn around. I raised my eyebrow as there seemed to be no logical reason for the gasp, I turned around to see if he was injured in any way.

"I just wanted you to turn around." He smiled smugly.

"For what purpose?" I asked raising my eyebrow once again.

"I mean, you've got back muscle like hell and I just wanted to see if you had abs." He looked me up and down with that smile, the smile that made me question all things logical. "You do." He lay on his back and closed his eyes. I turned away from him and continued changing my clothes. "How do you work out?" He asked as I finished changing.

"Work out?" I asked in confusion.

"Yeah work out, exercise. How do you stay looking like that?" He said motioning vaguely to my body.

"I have no formal routine." I spoke after some thought. "I simply maintain a healthy diet and state of mind."

"Seriously?" he asked incredulously. "No way you get that strong from eating leaves and thinking happy thoughts." He mocked.

"Our education does require some physical components." I said ignoring his disregard for my advice.

"I don't think Gym class made you into a sexy beast." He laughed.

"Excuse me?"

"Shit, I mean." He sighed. "What else do you do that could be making you so strong?"

"I'Chaya does like it when I lift him, could that be it?" I asked curiously.

"You LIFT him?!" His eyes were wide with shock, along with his mouth which was hanging open.

"Indeed." I said with a nod.

"Wh-wha! Bu- He's so big!" He stared up at me in disbelief. He moved from him position on floor to sit up. "H-how much does he weigh?" His eyes widened as he thought about I'Chaya's weight. 

"He weighs around the same as the Earth's brown bear, most closely ranging around the Kodiak." I said trying to remember the general weights of these animals.

(A/N: Right now you're probably thinking 'what the actual fricking frack, you crazy lunatic?!' You're probably thinking 'You're insane!!! We get the vulcan strenth is a thing but??? A bear?? Bears are huge???' That's what I was thinking at first, but listen. I want you to google Paul Anderson, he holds the world record for most weight lifted by a human being ever!! You're probably thinking 'Holy Heck did he lift like 800 pounds or something???' thats what I thought too, but you will nOT BELIEVE HOW MUCH HE LIFTED!!! Now you're thinking 'WTF was is like 2,000?? 3,000???' No my friends he can lift 6,270 pounds!! For some scale because I couldn't even think about it, that's like lifting 9 Siberian tigers {the biggest cats in the world}, Or like 15 lions!!! Boom! History)

He took out his PADD and started typing. "WHAT THE H?!" He shouted "fifteen hundred?! One thousand five hundred?! ONE COMMA FIVE ZERO ZERO?! 1,500 pounds?! What?! WHAT?! How is that-what even- IM I CAN'T!!!" He swung his arms wildly in strange but large gestures as he spoke. He then made a frustrated sound threw his arms up in the air again, he seemed at a loss. Loss for words, loss for thought, blank. "I'm gonna go outside." He said quietly after a long silence.

I heard him walking and the door closing behind him. I then heard muffled shouting. I was only able to understand one of the sentences. 'What the fuck?' It was the loudest things he had said. He then came back inside only to go back out, but into my mother's garden through the sliding door.

I heard the faint sound of I'Chaya walking around. If Jim startles I'Chaya he will attack. I was running to the garden immediately. I slid the door open almost silently and closed it behind me just as quietly. If I'Chaya had been startled then the slamming of the door would have only irritated him further. I crept noiselessly, invisible in the thick blanket of darkness. I could only hear the steady sound of I'Chaya's heavy breathing.


	10. Never Poke A Sleeping Sehlat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minor Mishaps in the garden

Kirk's POV:   
I didn't know what to do. I knew Vulcan's were stronger than humans, that's why my mom made me promise not to get into any fights, but 1,500 pounds? It didn't make any sense. So obviously my immediate thought was I'm gonna go hug this animal. Well actually my immediate thought was that's hot as hell manhandle me, but hugging a big animal that is just like a dog seemed more beneficial.

I knew not to scare I'Chaya, it would be like poking at a sleeping bear, bad idea. So I whispered the selhat's name as not to alarm him. After a few seconds of quiet walking I saw I'Chaya, laying on the floor but not sleeping. I continued to slowly approach him.

"Hi, buddy." I whispered moving a little slower. He stayed in his place laying on the floor, but his lion-like tail started wagging. When I reached I'Chaya I was immediately feeling relaxed. I stretched my arm out and began to pet his soft fur. "Did I wake you up?" I asked petting his head. He made a sound so close to purring that I let out a small laugh. I sat with my back against his side. After a couple of seconds I felt I'Chaya tense up, so I sat up to see if he was ok. Then I heard it. The sound of quiet, almost silent footsteps.

I immediately thought it must be Spock, but why was I'Chaya so tense, and why would Spock be creeping around in his own house. So we crawled behind what looked like a blueberry bush. We saw a tall thin figure approaching where we had been only moments ago. As the figure got closer I got ready to jump.

Vulcans are strong and whoever this was could take down in a minute, but I had the element of surprise. I shot out of the bush like a bullet and tackled the opposing figure. I flipped them into their stomach and held their hands behind their back like cops used to in old movies. They didn't seem to be struggling. So I flipped them over, grabbing their hands again.

"Spock?" I squinted in the darkness, only being able to see roughly discernible features.

"James." He replied calmly.

"We seem to be ending up like this a lot lately." I laughed looking down at him. I let go of his wrists and smiled. "Why were you sneaking around?" I was sitting so I was in a position with my hips above his, my knees on either side of him.

"I was worried that you had startled I'Chaya were in danger. Running in here would only startle him further. I wanted you to be safe." He looked up at me with slightly parted lips. I readjusted myself so rather than kneeling above his hips, I was just sitting on him.

"Thanks, for worrying about me." I smiled. "And sorry for walking out on you like that, I just thought it was crazy that you could lift him and I needed to uh- take a breath." I shivered remembering why I left. The more I thought about his strong arms lifting that 1500 pound beast(puppy), the more I realized how compromising the position we were in really was. I climbed off of him and knelt with my back against a tree.

I then stood up and took both his hands to lift him up too.

"Sorry about tackling you, and making you worry." I laughed awkwardly.

"As long as you're alright." He said looking me up and down and pressing running his hands along my chest, most likely searching for injuries.

"Spock," he continued looking. "Spock." I grabbed his wrists and stared at him. "I'm fine." I said letting him go. "Are you okay? I tackled you pretty hard." I said checking him in the same manor he had checked me. I was running my hand along his back and he sharply inhaled. I immediately looked up into his eyes. I tugged on his shirt a bit notifying him I had to take it off to check his back. He nodded.

I was pulling the hem of his shirt up and he lifted his arms up for me to take it off. "Is it alright if we go inside, the lighting out here, I can't see well enough to help you." I sighed. He nodded and we walked into the kitchen.

I bent him over the kitchen counter and wiped his back with a wet paper towel, there was a bit of blood on his back. It was green and a bit thicker than human blood. He shivered at the coldness of the wet paper towel. "I'm sorry." I apologized grabbing the first aid kit Bones had left out. "I'm sorry I didn't mean for you to get hurt." It was only a small cut so 2 or 3 bandaids would be enough, but I still felt horrible.

"It is alright, I am already aware of what your intentions were." He said keeping his chest flat against the counter top. Once i got all the bandaids on I pressed a small kiss to them, right above the cut. I watched as his body turned a light shade of green.

"Sorry, it's just a thing human's do. Well, not all humans. My mom used to tell me that kisses made everything better. She would always kiss me whenever I got a cut." I laughed. He stood up and turned to face me, towering over me once again. "S-sorry." I was blushing now and looking away from him.

"It's illogical to apologize when one has already been forgiven." I could feel him looking down at me.

"Right, sorry- I mean sorry-I mean-" I trailed off. my eyes kept trailing over his chest unintentionally. I was blushing, and I knew he could see it. There was no way he couldn't, my face must've been brighter red than a fire truck. "We should probably get to bed." I said trying to find any way to escape the gaze of those dark all encompassing spheres that he called eyes.

"We should brush our teeth first." He pointed out.

"Right, yeah." I wasn't even thinking about actually going to bed, but if brushing our teeth and going to bed meant time for us to not be talking I was all in.

I began to walk quickly toward the bedroom, he was right behind me. Which shouldn't have surprised me but in my jumpy mental state I was surprised I was still breathing properly. When we got in the room for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to turn around and close the door. I obviously turned around only to be met by the sight of Spock, not centimeters away.

"I should probably just let you get the um- yeah." I cleared my throat and took a step back. Spock closed the door as my request implied, but I still felt myself shiver at the sound of the door closing. Spock pressed the back of his hand gently to my forehead.

"Are you feeling well, Kirk." He asked, searching my eyes for some sign of disease.

"Now that you mention I am feeling a bit out of the ordinary." I took a breath. "I wouldn't want to get you sick." It was supposed to be a polite 'stay away from me.'

"You must rest." He scooped me up and lay me in his bed.

"How many times in the next week do you think you're gonna have to lay me in your bed or tell me that I've got to rest?" I asked wish a smile as he covered me in a blanket, sitting on the side of the bed.

"I am unsure." He replied. "I hope for it not to become a frequent occurrence." He added with what almost looked like a smile.

"I don't know." I smiled. "It's not so bad here." I moved around in his bed a bit pretending to get comfortable again. "I might be getting sick more often." I joked. I moved over and made some space so he would lay with me. He raised an eyebrow and only hesitated for a moment before laying

"I highly recommend you do not intentionally subject yourself to any illness." He said as if trying to reason with me.

"Spock, I was kidding. I'm not gonna force myself to be sick just so I can lay in bed with you." I laughed. "I'd hope that you'd lay with me if I just asked nicely." I smiled.

"Go to sleep, Ashaya." He said, running his hand through my hair.

"That better not be another word for princess." I said in a laugh-yawn.

He smiled. "It isn't, now close your eyes and sleep." He spoke softly, rolling on his side to turn the the light off. I curled up close to him and smiled.

"Goodnight." I whispered.

"Goodnight." He whispered back.


	11. Bagpipes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirk gets an oh so wonderful wakeup call

"WHAT DO WE DO WITH A DRUNKEN SAILOR? WHAT DO WE DO WITH A DRUNKEN SAILOR? WHAT DO WE DO WITH A DRUNKEN SAILOR, EARLY IN THE MORNING?!" I felt my entire body jolt up at once.

"A special good morning from Scotty back home." I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Tell him I hate him." It came out as a muffled shout, considering my face was only a test tube of acid away from fusing into the pillow. I was then aware of the cold emptiness of the bed. I sighed as I pulled my face out of the pillow. Spock wasn't the warmest person, he felt a bit colder than most humans, but definitely warmer than those icy skinned, cold as death neighbors of his.

"Yeah yeah, but it's time to get up, you're not gonna sleep the day away." McCoy's unsympathetic tone was a brutal wake up call.

"I'm going, I'm going. Geez Louise cut me some slack, we were up late last night." I yawned, sitting up.

"9:00 is not late, Jim. Especially not for you." He said placing a hand on his hip. "Unless," he paused to look me up and down. "You're in Spock's bed again, you're not wearing a shirt, you're tired at 7:00 even though you would've gotten ten hours of sleep if actually went to bed at nine. So tell me Kid, what really happened?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's not what you think, really." I said putting my hands out as if to stop him.

"You're telling me or I'm making assumptions." He said crossing his arms.

"Don't make assumptions!" I whined.

"The assumptions are being made."

"Wait no I'll tell you." I shouted. "Oh man." I put my head in my hands. "I slept with him."

"You WHAT?!" He was off the bed and staring at me with eyes as wide as saucers.

"We didn't have sex we just slept in the same bed." I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Lord almighty, you scared the living shit out of me, kid." He said grabbing on the wall for support.

"It was just a weird misunderstanding. He can lift I'Chaya, I freaked out, then he wasn't wearing a shirt... I don't know it was a really weird night." I sighed. "and Jesus Christ, Bones! I'm not that bad of a house guest." I stretched my arms with a yawn and got up. I walked over to my bag, which I still hadn't fully unpacked, and picked out some clothes to wear.

"Not that bad a house guest? Not that bad a house guest?! When you came to my house-"

"That was one time, and you know is was an accident!" I interrupted his and tried to shut him up.

"Inviting my neighbor over was an accident? Inviting him into my house, getting on my dining room table, and-" he shouted, unable to finish as I once again interrupted him.

"You said you'd be out all day! You said I could do whatever I wanted, just not to break anything!" I interjected.

"But you did that too!" He shouted exasperatedly.

"It's not my fault your old table couldn't support a human body!" I said in annoyance.

"You shouldn't have been on the table in the first place!" He crossed his arms over his chest and stared over at me.

"You're acting like I had some kind of massive orgy in your house." I scoffed. "I was baking a pie!"

"And breaking my table!" He shouted back.

"I was trying to take a picture, Matt, y'know your neighbor-"

"I know who Matt is!"

"Okay well Matt said I should pose on the table holding the pie. He said it would be funny." I sighed.

"So you got on my table?!" He swung his arms wildly.

"Well duh, he was gonna take a picture. It could've ended up like one of those completely useless stock photos." I smiled thinking of the one with the cake pillow.

"You broke my table!" He interjected, interrupting my thoughts.

"I already said I was sorry! The point is, I'm not a bad house guest." I sighed. "And would it really be that horrible if something did happen?" I mumbled that question under my breath and I was 52% sure Bones didn't hear me.

"All that really matters is he keeps that dog thing on a leash." He shivered at his own words.

"I'Chaya? No, he's so cute!" I argued, thinking own his big fuzzy face.

"You would think he's cute." I blushed for a moment, thinking he was talking about Spock. I let out a short nervous laugh before smiling.

"Do you know where Spock is?" I asked a bit abruptly.

"Probably meditating again, or playing with that animal." He rolled his eyes.

"Well, I would love to sit here under your scornful judgment, but I'm getting hungry so..." I trailed off, leaving the room. I brushed my teeth and walked toward the kitchen. Where I expected the find Spock, but so found his mother Amanda.

"Oh, hi!" I don't know why I was surprised to see her, but I was. "Good morning." I smiled, sitting near her.

"Good morning to you too." She smiled back,

"Alright, this might be an awkward question." I laughed a bit nervously. "But what should I call you?" I asked folding my hands together as I looked up at her. "I mean, I'm gonna be staying here for a while. Should I call you ma'am, Amanda, Mrs.-"

She cut me off putting her hand on top of mine with a soft warm smile. "Honey, you can call me mom, or mom #2, or host mom, whatever you're comfortable with." Her voice was calm and soothing.

"Thank you... mom? Uh, I think I'll just call you Amanda." I smiled.

"Whatever you want, sweetie." She patted my cheek and stood up. She's so sweet, I love her. Once Amanda left, Bones jumped into the room as if on queue.

"You're hiding something." He said after staring at me for a good minute.

"I am hiding nothing." I stood up and grabbed an apple, biting into it.

"I'll find out." He said squinting his eyes.

"How are you gonna find out when there's nothing out to find?" I paused and rethought my wording. "When there's nothing to find out."

"James." Spock came into the doorway of the kitchen from the garden. He was sweating, wearing a tight black T-shirt, and I was gone. My mouth went dry. "James." He repeated, after not getting a reply.

"Mhmm?" That was all I could get myself to say.

"I'Chaya has made it clear, he will not go out for a walk unless you accompany us." He sighed leaning on the door frame. "Would you join us?"

"Mhmm." My vocal chords once again failed to produce any other type of reply. My heart fluttered. "See you later, Bones." I practically giggled as I slid out the door.


	12. Vaksurik

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spock using I'Chaya as a ploy to spent time with Kirk? No way!

"So I'Chaya won't go for a walk unless I come with you?" I asked raising an eyebrow suspiciously as I turned my head to face him though I still walked forward, alongside him.

"Indeed, we will not leave without you." He nodded, not making eye contact with me. Though I did see him glance over at me from his trained gaze on I'Chaya.

"This isn't just your charming way of asking me to hang out?" I looked at him with a cheesy smile, hip bumping him.

He looked me up and down with a raised eyebrow. "Vulcans do not lie." He replied almost defensively.

"Mhmm." I smiled to myself as we continued walking. "I'Chaya!" I shouted as he came into view. He started wagging his tail as we approached. "Hi, buddy." I smiled, holding his big ol puppy face. "You wanna go for a walk? You ready to go for a walk?" I was talking to him in that overly excited and high pitched voice reserved for puppies and babies... also kittens, basically any baby animal.

His ears perked up as I spoke, but he still seemed confused. More confused than the average puppy.

"Hal-tor I'Chaya." Spock patting him on the side. I'Chaya then began to walk.

"He understands Vulcan?" I asked looking at Spock in confusion. It made a bit of sense, like how dogs learn words like 'walk' 'sit' 'stay' and such.

"To some extent." Spock replied. To which I'Chaya snorted and purposely bumped into Spock. "To a considerable degree." Spock corrected himself, to which I'Chaya hummed pridefully.

"Are you smart? Are you a smarty?" I began to play with I'Chaya again. "You're a smart boy, aren't you? Yes you are! Yes you are!" I'Chaya couldn't understand me, but he seemed to get excited anyway. Probably from the tone of my voice.

Spock stared at me with an expression that could be classified as amused, entertained, intrigued or anything in between.

"Can you translate that for me and tell him he's a smart boy?" I smiled over at Spock jokingly.

He raised an eyebrow at me in amusement.

"Oh! That reminds me!" I shouted abruptly. My shouting must have startled him because it looked like he had stumbled back a bit, which didn't surprise me because my outburst had seemed to come out of nowhere. "Sorry." I laughed putting my hand on his arm. "But I just remembered that you still haven't started to teach me any Vulcan." I beamed up at him.

"You are correct." He replied with a curt nod, as we continued to walk. Leaving the garden was a whole change in atmosphere! It was like going from a warm Spring day in Iowa to a scorching summer in the fucking SAHARA DESERT. It was a bit off putting to say in the least. Spock must have noticed my surprise at the drastic change in setting, because he immediately came to support me.

"Are you alright, James?" He asked moving closer so I could lean on him for support.

"Yeah." I held his arm more tightly and blinked a few times, I'm good. "Yeah, I'm ok, but is it alright if we stop and take a rest every once in a while?" I asked looking up at him, slowly shifting my weight so I was standing mostly on my own.

"Of course." He spoke softly, I could hear the concern that laced his voice as he made the statement with apparent uncertainty of my ability to go on. "Notify me whenever you feel the need to rest and I will act accordingly." He added.

We walked for a few more minutes, but the harshness of the blazing sun was enough to tire me out enough for my first break.

"Spock." I sighed, leaning into him once again. "I think I'm ready to take a break." My grip tightened on his arms. He nodded in understanding. I told him then because we were close to what seemed like a nice shady area to rest.

"Are you able to continue walking?" He paused in his quickly paced stride to speak.

"Yes?" I looked at him with uncertainty.

"Are you able to continue walking?" He stood up straight and pulled away from me, causing me to stumble forward. He immediately caught me and pulled me back up and into his arms.

"No?" I smiled a lopsided, nervous smile. He rolled his eyes. He actually rolled his eyes at me. He's trying to help me, it's ok. Right now is not the time to be a lil bitch, or to backhand anybody.

He walked me over to the small shaded area and sat me down with my back against a tree. He then sat down right next me so I was leaning on him slightly.

"Vaksurik" He spoke quietly. I had no idea what the word meant, but it made my heart jump and my cheeks turn pink. "I shall call you Vaksur." His voice was quiet and gentle as he gently caressed my cheek.

"I don't know what that means, but I know I really like it." I shivered at the last sentence.

"Vaksurik means beautiful." His voice became much quieter. "I said I think, I think I shall call you beauty." He looked down into my eyes and my heart skipped a beat as he came closer.

I then let out a small giggle and felt my cheeks redden again. "You think I'm pretty enough to call 'beauty'?" I smiled at up at him leaning in further.

"I have never met any being more beautiful than you, James T. Kirk." His hand was gently supporting my chin for me to look at him. Strong enough for me to rest my head and gentle enough for me to pull away at any given time. He lessened our distance all we could see was each other.

"I haven't ever met anyone in any world as beautiful, kind, gentle, smart, loving, or logical as you." At this point our noses were almost touching.

"Ashaya-" I cut him off and crashed out lips together. It was rash and unexpected, but it became smooth and gentle. He lifted me up and placed me in his lap, as he made quiet sounds of contentment. My eyes fell shut as I leaned even further into him. I then began a blind search with my hand for his. I felt him gasp when my fingers touched his. I deepened the kiss as he moved our hands around.

We then heard I'Chaya whine. "Damn." I sighed as I broke the kiss. "Pick this up later?" He nodded anxiously. "Good, well I guess we better finish this walk."


	13. Dimples

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spock learns a valuable lesson about humans.

We stood up awkwardly and he gently guided me back to I'Chaya, babying me a bit more than I thought necessary. We then continued to walk further away from the small grassy area and the house, but not in a direction we'd gone before. At least no where I've been before, which isn't very hard to come by on a foreign planet.

"Hey." I cleared my throat as I began to speak. "So, this might seem a little random and you might not know the answer to this question, but why do Vulcans have such light whitish green skin if it's so sunny here?" I asked putting my head on his shoulder.

"Vulcans, though our appearance is quite similar to Humans, process sun and light energy differently." He began to explain. "While humans have different amounts of melanin depending on where on the Earth their ancestors originated and how much sun they are accustomed the receive, Vulcan evolution was completely free of melanin and most other genes that cause the variations you find in humans." He finished proudly.

"So you wouldn't find any Vulcans with dark skin?" I asked thinking of how different humans are and how crazy it would be if we all looked the same.

"Affirmative." He answered.

"Or curly hair?"  
"Correct."  
"Different colored eyes?"  
"Indeed."  
"Dimples?"   
"What are dimples?"  
"What are dimples? Pshh, whu-what are dimples! What are-pkh DIMPLES! Hold on! Pause! Time out! What are dimples?!" I shouted completely baffled.

"That was my question, yes." He seemed a bit offended by my response.

"Okay, hold on we gotta stop! Holy heck! I can't believe you don't know what dimples are!" I knew I was probably being annoying as hell, but I was honest to god in shock.

"I find your infatuation with my apparent ignorance on this subject to be quite demeaning." Spock didn't turn to face me as he spoke.

"Spock I didn't mean to insult you I was just-" I paused to sigh. "Wait a minute. Do you have dimples? Now that I think about it." I started tapping my chin. "I don't think I've seen you smile." I put my hand on his shoulder and turned him so I could see his face. "You're not much of a smiler are you?" I put my hand under his chin guiding him to look down at me.

"I don't believe I am." He said taking a step closer to me, causing me to blush.

"Well... That's a real shame, Spock." I said looking up into his eyes. "I think you'd look real nice shining those pearly whites. Then again, it's better for both of us if you don't." I kept my eyes on him to gauge his reaction. "If a looker like you smiled at me I'd be putty in your hands." I fluttered my eyelashes.

He raised an eyebrow and I smiled.

"It's an expression." I added. "It means I'd be, well I'd do just about anything for you." I laughed as I explained myself.

"I am familiar with the expression." He interjected. "It just seems strange to me." he smiled comparing yourself to an inanimate object to convey your emotional state." He clarified.

"I guess it is a bit strange." I smiled as I leaned into him. I blinked a couple times trying to remember what got us in this situation in the first place. "Oh! Dimples." I said a bit abruptly as I began to remember our previous conversation.

"Yes, dimples." Spock said with an amused look on his face. I took a step back so I wasn't in his face anymore.

"Well, not everybody has them." I began to explain. "Well, they're these little indents in someone's cheeks that they get when they smile." I furrowed my eyebrows when I realized how hard it was to explain. "They aren't holes or cuts or anything like that." I scratched the back of my neck. "Well, here. I'll just smile and point to mine." So I did exactly that.

"Oh." It was quiet and seemingly unintentional. I closed my wide mouthed smile into a small one. As I stood a bit embarrassed as all his attention was focused on me, well more importantly my mouth.

Spock's POV:  
I felt my cheeks heat up as I watched I small indentations form on either side of his bright smile. "Oh." It slipped from my lips before I could stop myself from speaking.

He closed his mouth and the small dimples disappeared caused me to look back into his eyes.

"Heh, yeah. It's nothing too impressive, I was just surprised that you'd never seen them before." He said, shifting from foot to foot seemingly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat. "So what's something you guys have that humans don't." He said in an obvious attempt to take the attention off himself.

I raised an eyebrow at the vagueness of his question, but thought it best just to answer.

"You are already aware of Vulcan's heightened strength and endurance capabilities." I began.

"Mhmm." He hummed in reply, nodding a bit too eagerly. "But I really wouldn't mind hearing more." He added quite quickly.

"Well..." I started once again with a raised eyebrow. "Vulcans adapted quite similarly to humans considering our non-correlating ancestry." We began to walk again as I spoke. "Yet there are some obvious differences. The melanin as I mentioned before, the placement of or internal organs, the color of our blood, our survival in different climates, our physical and mental strength, our emotional capacity and tendencies, our intra-species differences, and our responses to stressful situations." I finished.

"And all of this is obvious, how exactly?" He smiled a confused smile as he asked this.

"It all has to do with our biological makeup as separate species." I replied.

"Mhmm?" He raised an eyebrow at me apparently still unable to understand what I was saying.

"On Earth because only 29% is land and only 33% of that 29 is desert it is unlikely for a human to be in a situation that most Vulcans will face." I said trying to explain myself.

(A/N: Those statistics seem really weird, but I got em off google so... -LQ)

"That makes sense." He laughed in response. "What if we got in a fight?" He asked, a mischievous smile growing onto his face.

"I find that highly unlikely." I replied almost instantaneously.

"Fine." He laughed lightly. "Then what if we were sparring." He rolled his eyes. "I know you can do that nerve pinch thing when you grab someone's neck, but what if you had to hold someone down without knocking them out?" He came close to me once again. "Could you just rely on your strength for that, or do you have a special..." he paused as I searching for a word. "Technique?"

We continued our walk as we talked, going further and further from my home as we did.


	14. Love?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love is a very confusing thing.

"Okay, but if outer space holds everything then what holds outer space? How was space even created? How big is space?"

"For now, we shall leave that explanation to philosophers."

"Shit." I said staring off into the distance. We stood silently for a moment, contemplating our universe and all those like it. "Hey, I don't wanna seem like an ignorant dickwad or anything, but can I ask you a question?" He raised his eyebrow, most likely at my choice of words, and didn't reply. "I'm not trying to be rude I swear, I'm just really curious." I said with a nervous smile.

"You may." He said with a nod.

"Do you guys sing?" I asked a bit hesitantly. "Well I mean you're obviously able to sing, but do you?" I looked at him curiously.

"We do indeed sing." His said with a straight face that almost looked like a smile. "We also dance and play instruments." He added almost jokingly, almost.

"I get it." I smiled, shoulder bumping him. "I can't do much musically. I can play harmonica," I laughed. "and I can kinda sing." I added with another smile.

"I am able to play an instrument similar to the Terran 'guitar', but not quite identical." Spock said with a nod. "I am also quite fond of singing."

"We should totally start a band." I laughed. "Don't tell McCoy I told you this, but he can play the banjo like nobody's business." I said with a smile.

"It would be illogical to-"

"Come on Spock I was only kidding around, and even if I wasn't, you're school is on break what've you got to keep you from having fun." I said jokingly.

"Fun?" He asked with an eyebrow raise.

"Don't tell me you don't know what fun is!" I stopped dead in my tracks.

"I am completely aware of the words meaning and significance to the individual." He said simply, causing me to let go of the breath I was holding in and continue to walk with him.

"Then why did you-" I stopped myself mid sentence and gasped. "Mr. Spock, did you just make a joke." I covered my mouth in surprise. He didn't reply, but I swear on my life I saw the corner of his mouth tilt up. "Was that a smile?!" I said even louder, letting mine broaden even though I looked like an idiot.

He brought his face back to a neutral expression, but I could see the glint of mischief in his eyes.

"I'm breaking all kinds of barriers today, a joke and a smile! All in one day! One conversation, no less. Wow, I must be the luckiest man alive." I smiled, but I wasn't joking. His cheeks tinged a soft green as he turned away from me. I looked at him and he looked at me, and I knew I was head over heels for him.

I never got that expression, 'head over heels', isn't that how you're supposed to be? If you were any other way it would be a bit worrying. 'Heels over head' makes more sense, but I suppose it doesn't have the same ring to it.

It wasn't like how they show it in movies, where there's suddenly a golden glow around them and everything is in slow motion, it was like every other time I looked at him, even more beautiful than I remembered. His brown eyes were like a whole beautiful planet of their own or like freeze frame portraits of a planet being devoured by a black hole from the inside out. Such an extraordinary picture in such an ordinary frame. Everyone I know has eyes (or some way to see), but you need to really look at them the see the picture in the frame, the color in the eye.

I realized I was staring and I felt my checks turn pink as I was brought back into reality. He must've been staring too, because he seemed just as startled. I'Chaya made a strange sound, pulling us out of our awkwardness. I looked at him and realized;  
1\. I had no idea where we were  
2\. We had been walking for hours  
3\. The sun was starting to set  
4\. My feet hurt   
5\. His arm was around My shoulder

I tried not to make a big deal about it because I didn't want to weird him out, but I was freaking out. I leaned into him, gently. I didn't put much weight on him, but enough so he could feel that I was there.

"Hey Spock." I looked up at him and took a breath. "Have you been thinking about the other night?" I asked furrowing my eyebrows. He didn't respond so I took that as my queue to keep embarrassing myself. "Because I have and I just-" I sighed. "I like you a lot Spock and I feel like you like me too." I said gently holding his arm.

We stopped walking and he turned to face me. I felt my cheeks heat up and I looked away. If he were a human I'd take his hands in mine and keep telling him how beautiful he really was, but I couldn't hold his hands and my compliment meant nothing to him. Loving him was like trying to teach algebra to someone on a different language. Nothing made sense and it sucked.

"You don't have to like me and you're not obligated to make yourself feel feelings for me." I sighed. "I just wanna know where I stand." I said with a half smile. I knew that if he told me he wanted nothing to do with me it would tear me apart. I hated only known him for a few days, but there was something about him that made me feel like I need him. He felt like air, like I would suffocate without him, is that why he always took my breath away? "Spock, please."

He removed his arm from my shoulder and took my face in his hands. I didn't know I was holding back tears, until I felt them sliding down my cheeks. I held his forearms as he pressed our foreheads together.

"I keep trying to not like you, but I can't." I sobbed with closed eyes. "I feel something here and I don't want to let it go. So please just make decision. If you don't like me then I'll leave you alone and I'll get over it and-and-" I let go of him and stopped myself from continuing because my voice cracked and tears were streaming down my cheeks. "Don't let my emotional state influence your choice." I said as I cleared my throat, wiping my eyes.

"Ashaya, I-"

"I'm not Ashaya! I don't know who that is, but they obviously mean something to you, so please just say you don't want me." I struggled to speak through teary eyes.

"Asha- Jim, you are misunderstanding. Ashaya is not a person, it is a word." He spoke softly.

"Then what does it mean?"

"My love." I tried to stop myself but I immediately jumped into his arms. I jumped onto him, wrapped my legs around his waist, closed my eyes, pressed our hands & lips together, and I kissed him with every single thing that I had.

"Jim wait." He pulled away. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. I stood up by myself so my legs weren't wrapped around him anymore, I was just standing.

"Spock, it's okay to feel feelings, you're family will love you all the same even if you don't think what you and your parents feel for each other is love, now. No matter how logical you try to make it seem, I know a loving family when I see one." I said softly.

"That isn't the problem." He said softly.

"Then what is it? Whatever it is we can figure it out together." I caressed his face gently with my hand. He sighed and looked away.

"There's a woman."


	15. A Woman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a lot of crude language and feeling so ready yourself.

Spock's POV:  
"There's a woman." The words felt flat and I watched his smile fade. Kirk's eyes lost their brightness and his face went blank.

"What?" He croaked numbly. He pulled his hand back from my face as his eyebrows furrowed. His face then returned to the same soft smile it held earlier. "I must've misheard you." He laughed. "You see, I thought you just said there's a woman, but you couldn't have said that." He said with a quiet chuckle. I was about to speak, but he continued. His face took on a smile that wasn't sweet like the soft one that was previously there.

"Because if you had been in a relationship with 'a woman' then that would mean you'd have been cheating on her and stringing me along." He said in a tone that sounded joking, though it was obvious he wasn't. "How silly would it have been for me to think that." The false smile faltered for half a second to show an expression that was anticipating. "Now tell me, Spock. What is it that you just said?" He placed his hand back on my chest.

I sighed. I knew it had been wrong of me to feel towards him, to continue to stay with him when I knew I was promised to T'Pring, but every second he was with me he was all that was on my mind. I only thought of T'Pring when I thought of all the complications in my relationship with Kirk.

"There is a woman." I said quietly. He looked away from me, retracting his hand from my chest. "But, Jim I-"

"What's her name?" His voice was quiet and broken.

"Jim, Please-" I didn't know what I was asking him, but I knew I was begging.

"What. Is. Her. Name." He glared up at me with tears in his eyes, dusting his hand in my shirt. "Y'know what?" He pulled his hand away from my chest and took a step back. "Forget it." He waved his hands dismissively. "Just fucking forget it." He continued, walking away.

He walked to I'Chaya and pulled himself up.

"Jim-"

"I want to go hom- back to the house." He says this without looking at me. When he stopped himself from calling my house his home my heart stopped. He had called it home a few times and I hadn't realized how much I loved the thought of it being his home until he wanted nothing to do with it.

"James, please talk to me." I begged trying to move so he would look at me, he wouldn't.

"If you won't take me, I'll walk back myself." He stated it truthfully, but to me it seemed a threat. A threat to his wellbeing and safety.

"My apologies, I will bring you." I replied immediately. The anger on his face faltered for a second before returning stronger, more pained. It broke my heart to know I was causing him pain. I climbed onto I'Chaya's back and patted his side. He began to walk and we sat in silence. I stared at I'Chaya, not daring to look anywhere else.

"Jim if you would only listen to me, please-"

"I don't-" He paused to take a deep breath. "I don't want to hear it."

"Jim, please." I begged. "I must-" he cut me off.

"Please refrain from any further attempts of communication for the duration of the ride to our current living arrangements." His voice was so cold, so sharp... So Vulcan.

The silence was torturous, the lack of sound was deafening. The silent ace arms of every word either of us could be saying was burning into my ears.

"I love you." My voice cracked as I forced myself to look forward still. I heard Jim huff from behind me.

"Okay."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. My mind went blank. I'Chaya kept moving, but I was paying no attention to where. I don't know how much time passed until I heard Jim shout my name. It startled me.

"I'm sorry it seems I became lost in my thoughts." I apologized.

"Well we better not be lost out here." He gestured vaguely around us. I sat silently, looking around at our unfamiliar surroundings. "Spock, we aren't lost are we?" He asked now sounding worried.

"I- I am unsure." I answered honestly. "I'Chaya, stop." I'Chaya stopped immediately.

"Ugh! This is so typical!" He shouted angrily. "We would get lost out here." He continued. "I want to be alone one time and I get stuck with you!" He shouted throwing his arms in the air in exasperation.

"You are going to have to put your feelings towards me aside." I said, hopping off of I'Chaya's back. I held my hand out to carry him down, but he ignored me, hopping off on his own.

"Put my feelings aside?" He practically growled. His eyes then widened and his expression became angrier than I had previously thought possible. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?!" He accused.

"Why would I purposely make it more difficult to get back?" I asked in confusion.

"You got us lost, just so I'd talk to you!" He jabbed me in the chest as he said this.

"I did no such thing." I replied immediately. I then pushed his hand away from where it sat, pointing threateningly. "Your irrational assumption that I would stoop as low as to put not only myself, but you and I'Chaya in danger is disgusting." I glared at him.

"Oh, I am so sorry that I see irrational to you, but I seem to be in very trusting mood right." He practically spat.

"The sun is setting and I highly doubt we will make it back but sundown. The sun is up and we don't know where we are, risking getting our selves even more lost by attempting to search at night is illogical. So our next option is to find place to stay the night." I continued. "We are going to have to set up camp here, because to my knowledge there aren't any villages near by." I stopped.

"So what are we supposed to do?" He asked in annoyance.

"Start a fire."


	16. What Am I To You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This has even worse language then the last chapter and Jim is furious.

"What the fuck am I supposed to start a fire with?" He glared at me. I stared at the barren desert that surrounded us and frowned.

"We are going to have to find a way." I answered.

"Fine." He sighed, beginning to walk away.

"Where are you going?" I asked, grabbing his arm.

"To find some wood." He said tearing his arm from my gentle but firm grip. "We can't get any more lost than we already are."

"Then we shall go." I agreed. I patted I'Chaya and he began to walk with us. "Not only to find wood, but a place for shelter as well." I finished. We had been walking for about a mile by the time Jim spoke gain.

"If I die out here I'm blaming you." He glare at me as we walked.

"I highly doubt you are going to die at my hands." I countered.

"I'm not saying you're gonna be the one that kills me, I'm saying that whatever does kill me it's gonna be your fault.

"You are not going to be killed." I responded tiredly.

"If I die, I'm giving I'Chaya full permission to eat my corpse to survive." He said flatly.

"I hardly think it will come to that." I replied.

"It seems like you hardly think about a lot of things." He said with a glare.

"Excuse me?" I turned to him in disbelief at what I had just heard.

"I said 'It seems like you hardly think about a lot of things'." He repeated, angrier this time. I felt my eyes narrow as he spoke, yet I tried to keep my face in an expression that was emotionless.

"Your insults of my mental function will be fruitless if your goal is to evoke emotion." I spoke in a tone that was completely monotonous as to exemplify my lack of apparent emotion.

"I'm not trying to insult you or make you cry, Spock." He sighed. "I just think it's obvious that you haven't been making the best choices recently." He finished.

"What exactly are you referring to?" I asked, feeling my eyebrow twitch as I used every cell in my body not to insult him back.

"Well, you just haven't proven to be the most trustworthy person." He said through gritted, teeth.

"Your assumption that I am untrustworthy or your paranoia that I will somehow betray you is irrational." I said quickly.

He opened his mouth but closed it almost immediately. Thinking over whether or not what he was going to say was worth it. His eyes then narrowed and he opened his mouth to speak once again.

"What I'm saying may seem irrational to you, but when someone has lied to you since the day you met them, you think twice about trusting them again."

"I never lied to you Kirk." I responded without thinking.

"Like what you did was any better." He glared.

"I did not mean-"

"You kept a secret from me, and don't act like that's okay because 'everybody has their secrets' No! She's a person. She's not a secret to be kept! You're with her!" He continued, shouting in my face once again.

"Jim, I did not want to start another argument." I tried to calm him.

"Well you sure as hell are getting one." He said through gritted teeth. "You're in a relationship with her! So what does that make me Spock? What does that make me?" He was pushing me now, shoving me as he ranted.

"Jim-"

"What am I, Spock? Am I your side-ho? Your side-bitch? Or do you just not care because you think I do this kind of shit all the time?" We were nose to nose and there were flames in his eyes.

"I would never-"

"You must think I'm an idiot." He laughed coldly. "Such a dumb fucking human." He shook his head.

"I don't-"

"Too damn naïve to think about anything but being head over heels. Always so emotional and dumb. Makes fucking sense." He said through teary eyes.

"Jim please-"

"No, you're right. I'm just a naïve idiot. Why else would I have gotten wrapped up in this shit so easily? I didn't even ask if you had a girlfriend!"

"JAMES TIBERIUS KIRK!" I shouted, grabbing onto both of his shoulders. "You are going to listen to me and you are going to listen well." I shook him. "Yelling is illogical and emotional, but you have given me no choice!" I grabbed onto his forearms.

"Illo-"

"No! You are going to listen to everything I have to say!" I interrupted his interjection. "I. Love. You. I do not love T'Pring! We were forced to be bonded at 7 years old, I had no choice. I told you about her because I love you! You are not naïve! You are not stupid! You are none of those names you called yourself!" I was shaking as I caught my breath. "If you want to continue hating me so be it. At least you will hate me for the truth." I finished monotonously. I released him with a slight push. "I'm sorry."

The silence hung in the air as I closed my eyes to find... tears? I had been crying. He had made me cry. I looked into his eyes to see his tears as well. We fell into each other's arms and held each other. We were kneeling on the ground, sobbing. I was holding him as close as I possibly could, pulling him tightly against myself. I pulled back and from my own watery eyes I saw his tear stained cheeks.

He surged forward and pressed our lips together. It was salty from our tears, my eyes stung as the tears flowed freely.

"Why does everything always have to be like this." He asked quietly.

I shook my head, because I did not know. Even if I had known I was unable to respond.

"Hold me?" The question was quiet, his voice was weak and shaking.

Of course I complied. I pulled him close and wrapped my arms tightly around him, as if he were a shattering vase and I was the only thing holding him together. I knew then, that I would do anything in my power to keep this beautiful work of art from ever shattering, ever cracking, ever chipping again.


	17. The Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spock and Jim have to spend the night out in the desert.

We stayed up for a while after that, hugging each other close as we looked up at all the stars shimmering around us. The desert was so empty I felt like we were surrounded by the stars, as if at any moment I could just touch one. It was like I was home, but with sand instead of grassy fields, and Spock lying with me rather than my brother by my side. Everything felt just like home, except one thing was missing, the moon. The sky seemed empty without her. I hadn't realized that I could miss something like the moon. It wasn't really something I had ever expected to live without. I mean sure there were nights on Earth where you couldn't see the moon, but you always knew it was there.

"Are you alright?" Spock asked softly. I guess I had looked upset.

"Yeah yeah, it's just-" I cut myself off, actually thinking about what I was about to say. "Forget it, it's stupid." I said, shaking my head at my own unimportant thoughts.

"Jim, nothing that upsets you is stupid." His voice was gentle but firm. I took a breath and nodded.

"I just-" I looked up at the beautiful night sky and sighed. "I miss, I miss the moon." I kept my eyes locked on the sky, not wanting to see his annoyance at my trivial human feelings.

"Well, we may not have a moon." Spock said quietly. "...but we do have view of the stars." I turned to him and met his eyes. I smiled and nodded before looking back up at the sky. "Ashaya, when I was young my mother told me about her first days on Vulcan." He stared at the sky as he spoke. "She told me that she felt 'home sick', that she missed Earth, her friends and her family. I did not understand this at first, she was able to contact any and all friends and relatives, and she had a new home. Being able to see a place is not the same as being there and being able to see those you love is not the same as being with them..." He trailed off. "What I meant to tell you was that whenever she missed Earth she told me she would look at the stars. She said that no matter where you are in the universe stars still look like stars." He finished.

"Thank you, Spock." I replied quietly.

"You are welcome, Jim." He nodded.

We fell asleep in each others arms with I'Chaya curled up around us.

When morning came I was hungry and thirsty as hell. As I opened my eyes I was blinded by the sun. I immediately squeezed them shut, turning away from the light. I curled into a ball and blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the light. I felt two strong arms around me and cuddled back into the body next to mine. I sighed in comfort relaxed a bit.

"Are you awake?" The voice was quiet and soft.

"MmNo." I mumbled.

"Jim." The voice was more stern. "It would be logical for us the attempt to find the house."

I opened my eyes and rolled my body around so I was facing him. "This sucks."

"The situation at hand has nothing to do with vacuum-"

"UGH!" I shouted, interrupting him. He raised an eyebrow at me and I glared at him. I then rolled my eyes and sat up. "Let's just go back the way we came, then." I said with a sigh. He nodded in agreement.

"Before we begin, we must eat something." He said reaching into the pack on I'Chaya's side.

"We shouldn't waste all of our food." I interjected.

"If we head in the correct direction we should be back in our village by the afternoon. It would be wise of us to eat now." Spock stated.

"But what if we don't make it back by then? What if we go the wrong way?" My argument was made less compelling by the growling of my stomach.

"Eat." He said, holding out a piece of unfamiliar food. I took it graciously and began to eat. I ate slowly and didn't eat all of it just incase things went south.

"Thank you." I said quietly, after finishing the bit I had eaten. He nodded in response and we put our minds to the task ahead. We began to walk back in the direction we had come from and I calmed down as things began to look familiar.

I ate the food that I had kept in my pocket in case we got ourselves more lost and I sighed in relief as I saw the familiar tree. The one I had sat under just earlier that day. Conserving my energy probably should have been top priority, but once we got close enough for me to be 100% sure it was the right tree I took off running. I sprinted towards it with every ounce of energy I had. I fell to my knees at the foot of the tree, kneeling between the roots. I ran my fingers through the dirt that felt like a blessing amongst the miles of sand.

The tree obviously gave me hope that we'd find our way back because it was a marker of where we had been earlier, but it was more than that. It reminded me of home. Sure it wasn't like the apple trees I was used to and it looked more like the trees you'd find in the Sahara Desert, but it had roots, brown bark, leaves, and it felt so familiar. I probably looked like a fool, kneeling at the foot of the tree with my hands in the dirt.

"Jim, are you alright?" Spock knelt by my side with his hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, it's just," I sighed and turned to him. "I feel like," I laughed softly to myself. "I feel like I'm home." I looked into his eyes and smiled softly.

"Without the moon?" He asked quietly, almost as if he was worried about what my response would be. My smile warmed as I realized he had actually listened to my rambling last night.

"Without the moon." I replied, closing my eyes as I pressed our foreheads together.


	18. T'hy'la

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim gets a lesson in Vulcan biology.

We stood up from our place kneeling at the base of the tree and I took a deep breath. Home can be anywhere, I thought to myself with a smile.

"Well, we should probably find our way back." I laughed, brushing off my knees.

"That is logical." Spock replied with a nod.

"So we should probably just keep walking this way, right?" I asked pointing forward. Spock took my arm and moved it so it was pointing a bit further left. "Right." I said mostly to myself.

"This way." He offered an arm and began to guide me so we were walking again.

"We should be getting back in no time." I smiled. "Uh, hey can ai ask you something?" I turned to him.

"Of course."

"Well, sorry to bring up the... situation from last night, but uh... well. The thing with T'Pring. How does that whole," I moved my hands around to gesture to the situation. "Thing work?" I asked, turning to him.

"It is quite complicated." Spock sighed as we continued to walk. I nodded in understanding, thinking the conversation was ending there. "When Vulcans are young their parents choose bond mates for them. My bond mate is T'Pring." He said simply. "It is quite like an arranged marriage, but with a joining of two minds." He explained.

"So your minds are connected?" I asked in confusion.

"Not completely, but there are certain connections we have to one another. With the disassembly of the bond, this connection would be broken. Though as Vulcans age, a certain bond or certainty or partnership is necessary as Vulcans go through time in their life called pon farr." Spock didn't seem the most comfortable talking about this.

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to." I said quickly.

"No, it is very important that I do." Spock cleared his throat. "Pon Farr is a part of Vulcan biology." He paused searching for the right words. "Vulcans go through pon farr every 7 years... it is a mating ritual in which the two bonded must be together. If they do not complete the... ritual either of them could die."

"You could die?!" I yelled, stopping us both in our tracks.

"Unless." He paused. "The bond is broken." He said, guiding me to continue walking.

"But aren't bonds sacred?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, That is why they are rarely broken," He nodded. "but the bond between t'hy'la is much stronger." Spock said pointedly.

"What's t'hy'la?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"It is a bond stronger than any other in the universe." Spock said softly. "The bond between t'hy'la will never let them part. No matter how far from one another they are, they will always come back together. They're as close as you can get to what you call soul mates. Meant to be together in all possible ways in every possible place, forever."

"That's beautiful." I smiled softly. "Absolutely beautiful."

"Did you want to come to Vulcan, Jim?" Spock asked softly.

"I can't say I did." I admitted with a rueful smile.

"Yet you are here, with me." He placed a hand on my cheek.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." I looked in his eyes and watched his face soften impossibly further.

"And I am glad you are not." His eyes roamed over my face as if he was just trying to take it all in. I leaned my cheek into his hand and closed my eyes.

"To be your t'hy'la would be the greatest blessing imaginable." I reopened my eyes only to look into his. "To know and be confident in knowing that in any possible universe I would be by your side... it would be the greatest gift anyone could receive."

Spock stood there, frozen. Eyes locked on mine in a tearful, passionate gaze. He opened his mouth and then closed it soon after, as if he was at a loss for words. He then spoke, ever so so softly, ever so sweetly.

"I wish only to always be by your side."

"And I wish only to always have you there."

A sharp pain stabbed at the back of my head, breaking me from my trance. I fell forward into him, my eyes squeezing shut as I clenched my fists around the fabric of his shirt. It felt like someone had cut a hole in the back of my head and was just punching as hard as they could, trying to break out through the front. I hadn't realized I was speaking until I heard Spock responding.

"I'm sorry, Ashaya." He was holding onto my face. "I don't know how." His face was pained. "I don't know how to make it stop." He was sinking down to his knees, still holding me close. Another wave of pain crashed over me and I felt like my skull was going to explode. Everything went black.


End file.
